Mirror Image
by Passiona
Summary: Quote: "Hinata opened her eyes, and as she did so, she watched as the robed figure turned towards her. And, though no face was visible due to the amount of fabric covering its entire body, head to foot, a great fear welled up inside the Hyuuga."


The young Genin placed a pale hand against the glass, and her reflection did the same, causing their fingertips to touch, while their palms were left out slightly. Hinata slid her hand down slowly, feeling how cold it was to the touch, as she stared into the eyes of her image.

It looked troubled.

The Hyuuga Heiress bit her lip and trailed her eyes over the rest of the reflection: Cream sweatshirt, blue pants, short dark hair... Everything was the same, but the eyes remained troubled.

Thoroughly disturbed by what she saw, Hinata tore herself away from the mirror and walked out of the room, heading into the village with vague thoughts of going to train. The Chuunin Exams were coming up rapidly after all, and everyone seemed to be in a learning and training frenzy. Even the academy students, who had their eyes not on becoming Chuunins, but Genins, were working extra hard.

The village had just recently hired a person who specialized in genjutsu, and the students were all learning from the master, even though a large majority of them were not genjutsu users themselves. As Hinata thought about the students, she could not help but think of her own time in the academy. But amongst all the memories she had of the place, one stuck out as particularly fond: Spiky yellow hair, piercing blue eyes, and a smile... A smile that made Hinata feel faint... The memory was a face, and that face, was none other than Naruto Uzumaki's. She smiled and blushed slightly, just thinking about him. And as the Hyuuga thought about him, her feet were taking her, seemingly of their own accord, to the academy itself.  
Forgetting training for now, Hinata suddenly felt like going to watch the younger not-yet-ninjas practice. It would be nice, she felt, going back after so long. And she would enjoy remembering those simpler times, when the Chuunin Exams were not the main worry, as it was now.

Yes, the Chuunin Exams worried Hinata. Worried her greatly, and it had been ever since Shino and Kiba had discussed it a few weeks ago.

Team Eight was sitting on a bench just outside the village after returning from a small mission. Kurenai-Sensei had entered the village to give the report to the Hokage, leaving the three genin outside to relax for a little while, though the conversation was far from relaxing…

_"We don't need a plan!" Kiba was speaking loudly to Shino, with Akamaru perched on top of his head. _

_"I did not say we need to make one now, I was simply saying that--"  
"Team Eight is plenty strong, we can handle ourselves just fine," Kiba interrupted Shino, now frowning. Akamaru gave a high-pitched bark, obviously agreeing with his master. _

_"You're rash, Kiba" Shino said in his deep voice, black glasses shining in the sun as he turned to his teammate.  
Kiba's frown increased and Akamaru gave a small growl, feeling the tension rise._

_"The Chuunin Exams are going to be much harder than you think, we cannot run in without some sort of way to--" _

_"Of course it's hard," Kiba said, interrupting once again. "That's the beauty of it! Finally, Team Eight is going to have a challenge worthy of its strength. Right, Hinata?" At this point he had turned to her with an expecting smile. Akamaru too seemed to smile.  
"W- well... Th- the Chuunin Exams are going to be... To be very hard.."  
"Hm?" Kiba cocked his head, as if analyzing her. This made Hinata quite nervous. She swallowed, feeling like there was a rock lodged in her throat, then continued in the same quiet voice. "M- maybe a plan wouldn't be... Wouldn't be so... so--" She paused, "bad..." Hinata looked at Kiba apologetically and almost fearfully as he crossed his arms, and shot an angry look in Shino's direction, which was duely ignored by the Bug Ninja. Kiba sighed loudly and Akamaru was silent.  
"I suppose it's a tie then."  
"A- a tie?"  
"Yeah, Akamaru and me, and you and Shino."  
Hinata blinked and Shino did not move a muscle.  
"O- oh..."  
"And since it's a tie, that means there won't be a plan," Kiba said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. In response, Shino stood up and faced Kiba and Akamaru, who in turned tensed as if to fight. Hinata on the other hand dwindled to the side, watching the two nervously.  
"This team will not perish because of you," Shino said darkly, hands shoved into his pockets like usual, though his glasses glinted dangerously.  
Kiba looked as if he would like very much to shoot back a nasty reply, but instead stayed silent, mulling over his chances in the argument and in a possible fight. After just a few short moments his mind seemed to be made up. "Alright Shino, we'll do this your way," his voice began to lower, "but don't think for a minute that Akamaru and I couldn't take you."_

_Akamaru barked twice, and Shino simply stared at the pair silently.  
"Okay then," Kiba said in a slightly more deflated tone. "Lets make this, plan thing."  
As the two boys sat together, talking about what the Exam might contain, and what to do if a member should become separated, Hinata seemed to drift away from them, though she remained standing where she had been the entire time. Hinata was lost in her own thoughts. Thoughts also involving the Chuunin Exams, but not how to get through them, like Kiba and Shino were. Instead she was thinking about how much she wished not to participate in it. She did not feel that she was strong enough to take on the "challenge", as Kiba had put it. She knew she was no way near as capable as her two teammates, and the genin felt that she had great proof of that. The mission they had just completed that day had been a success, and Kurenai-Sensei had praised them; a rare occurrence. But Hinata knew that she did not deserve the success, or the praise. For it had been her fault, and her fault only that it had not been completed sooner. When her skills were needed, she had failed. When she had been confronted by the enemy, she had also failed, and then, on top of that failure, needed to be rescued by Shino and Kiba, which they had done, just like they had always done, with an "are you okay, Hinata?"  
They knew that she could not handle it. That she was weak. And Hinata knew it also. Was that perhaps the reason Shino felt they needed a plan? It was very possible... Very possible... And Hinata felt terrible. She was holding them down. Holding them both down. _

_A voice interrupted her thoughts.  
"Hey, Hinata!"  
It was Kiba. The Hyuuga turned at his voice. "Do you want to help make up the plan," he asked kindly. Hinata did not want to, but she went over, smiling as if nothing had happened. Just like always..._

Hinata's thoughts returned abruptly to the present when she suddenly collided with something flat, and very hard. Falling backwards, Hinata landed with a cry of surprise on the ground. She rubbed her bruised head and when the pain began to subside she stood and stared at the object she had suddenly become too familiar with.  
It was a mirror.  
Hinata stared at her reflection and it stared right back. She had arrived at the academy, but this mirror was certainly not a part of the memories she had floated through earlier. This object was new. Still feeling the spot where she had hit it, Hinata looked the thing up and down and was surprised to see a handle attached to it. Cautiously she reached down and pulled. The mirror opened as she did so, revealing the academy. She entered through and closed the mirror behind her. Looking back, it looked like a normal door, and Hinata stared at it in confusion.  
Deciding that someone further inside would know about it, Hinata continued on, glancing back every now and then at the innocent looking door until it was lost from sight when she turned a corner. Upon turning that corner, Hinata could hear voices, lots of them.  
The students are hard at work Hinata thought as she walked forward, making sure to step quietly so as not to disturb any of them. Though she probably didn't have to worry, since every door was shut tightly. When a particularly loud room came up, Hinata stood close to it, though she could not understand anything that was said. Wishing to watch the students for a little while and knowing that no one would mind, Hinata activated her clan's bloodline trait.

"Byakugan!"

With that word, the girl's eyes turned hard, and the veins surrounding them bulged slightly. Another interesting thing was that her pupils became visible when they were at all other times, not. With the Byakugan active, Hinata was able to see right through the door and into the classroom. But what she saw inside frightened her so much that the technique nearly slipped from her grasp. A cry of surprise escaped her but one of her hands came up to silence it. She continued to stare inside the room in disbelief, hardly able to comprehend what she saw. And what she heard. Yes, she could hear their words now. Behind the door, the students were all seated on the floor, the desks behind them completely ignored. They were all seated before a cloaked figure, who seemed to be speaking to them. Every pair of eyes was staring obediently up at the figure, and every mouth was moving, though none of them showed a single emotion. This classroom scene was in such contrast to her own memories of the academy, that Hinata closed her eyes for several moments, though that could not stop their voices.  
"The leaves are wilted"  
"The Village is no more"  
"Look into the glass"  
"Illusions are true"  
"Reality is false"  
"Enter the glass..."  
This was just a handful of the things Hinata heard spoken, not by the figure, but by the students themselves. The very students who all hoped to someday become Jounin, high-level ninjas, of the Vilage Hidden in the Leaves. Of Konoha. But one would never guess that by what they were saying. What /were/ they saying? Illusions are true? How could they even be possible?

Hinata opened her eyes, and as she did so, she watched as the robed figure turned towards her. And, though no face was visible due to the amount of fabric covering its entire body, head to foot, a great fear welled up inside the Hyuuga and her Byakugan immediately released, leaving her staring wide-eyed at another normal looking door. She backed up rapidly from it, as it seemed to stare at her, almost as if she were looking at another mirror.  
Hinata turned and ran back down the hall, and did not notice that the door she had looked through had turned to glass, and reflected back the image of her darting away, fleeing the scene of terror she had witnessed.

Hinata bolted out the front doors and nearly fell over when she caught sight of herself in the mirror, which had taken the place of the front door, as she now realized. It was a normal mirror, and there was nothing to be afraid of about it. But nonetheless, there she was, reflected on its surface, pale and scared, trembling slightly. She was breathing hard, though it had been a very short sprint from the classroom to where she was standing.  
Unnerved by her own image, Hinata hurried away, though she looked over her shoulder at the academy, which seemed to be hiding some very dark secrets.  
And as she ran, the words of the last student rang in her ears.  
"Enter the glass..."


End file.
